Clonal diversity of Clintonia udensis Trautv. et Mey. populations and its correlation with ecological factors

Abstract

The clonal diversity of Clintonia udensis Trautv. et Mey. was detected by ISSR markers among 16 populations, and its correlation with ecological factors was analyzed as well in this work. Results showed that individuals (clonal ramets) per genotype were 1.12 and 1.149 at population and species levels, respectively, and that the 16 populations were all multiclonal. The detected genotypes were localized, without exception, within populations but demonstrated relatively high clonal differentiation among populations. The clonal diversity of the studied populations was high, with the average Simpson's index of 0.975, while the genets showed a clonal architecture of "guerilla". The population genetic diversities revealed by genet were consistent with those by ramet, further confirming their genetic differentiation among populations. And its genotype diversity within populations probably resulted largely from the frequent seedling regeneration and self-compatibility. In addition, the correlation analysis further revealed that, among the ecological factors, Simpson's index of C. udensis had a significant positive correlation (P<0.05) with pH values in the soil but not others.

Reproductive biology of Clintonia udensis

“…In recent studies, the clonal diversity of C. udensis was detected using ISSR markers, and it was revealed that C. udensis occurring in China exhibited high genetic diversity at the population level and also demonstrated high genetic differentiation among populations (Wang et al . ,). Although information on phylogenetic relationships among species and the population genetic structure of a certain species has been accumulated for the genus Clintonia , little is known about the basic life‐history characteristics, including reproductive systems, of this species group.…”